The 10 fact checks you've most wanted to read so far in 2023 Every July, we provide readers with a list of our most-read fact checks of the year so far. It's an opportunity to look back and see what most captivated readers. By a wide margin, our detailed look at President Biden's State of the Union address was the most-read fact check. We examined 13 claims, including that billionaires pay a lower tax rate than a schoolteacher or a firefighter (he was counting unrealized capital gains, which is not how the current tax system works) and that he had the "largest deficit reduction in American history" (his policies made the deficit problem worse). Fact checks about the president's son Hunter earned the most entries. Both President Biden and former president Donald Trump received two spots on the list, as did House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) You can click here to read our complete rundown. We have also listed the fact checks individually below. Enjoy this newsletter? Forward it to someone else who'd like it! If this email was forwarded to you, sign up here. Did you hear something fact-checkable? Send it here; we'll check it out. About the country's fiscal crisis… The second-most-read fact check was less about about an assertion by President Biden — or Trump, for that matter — and more a lengthy look at the roots of the nation's fiscal crisis. During the debt ceiling debate, Republicans pegged Biden as a big spender, while he pointed the finger at Trump. Trump did run up the debt while battling the coronavirus pandemic — policies Biden often supported. But the story is more complex than Biden suggested. We explained how policy choices made long ago are more responsible for the fiscal state of the nation. In fact, the president most responsible for the nation's fiscal imbalance is Lyndon B. Johnson. Close behind is Richard M. Nixon. Johnson enacted Medicare and Medicaid in the mid-1960s, and then Nixon in the early 1970s expanded both programs and also enhanced Social Security so that benefits were indexed to inflation. We're always looking for fact-check suggestions. You can reach us via email, Twitter (@GlennKesslerWP and @AdriUsero) or Facebook. Read about our process and rating scale here, and sign up for the newsletter here. Scroll down to read the top ten list | 
Email
No comments:
Post a Comment